What is the NATO Phonetic Alphabet

NATO phonetic alphabet is the most widely used radiotelephone spelling system. It is useful to prevent spelling mistakes or miscommunication. It is especially useful for people from different regions, with different accents and pronunciations work together. You might have seen movies or dramas where military people use terms like Alpha, Bravo, Charlie to represent A, B and C respectively. If yes, you have already seen practical use of the NATO phonetic alphabet. Let us give you more information about the system that is successfully being used universally for decades.

The Beginning of NATO Phonetic Alphabet

In 1956, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) modified the then-current set of code words used by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). These code words were used to clearly exchange voice messages by radio or telephone regardless of language difference or quality of connection.

The codes used by ICAO too were acrophony to the 26 letters of English alphabets. It means all the 26 letters of the English alphabet were represented by words beginning with that letter. But, some words were found to be ineffective in real-life situations. Thus, the need for modification was felt.

The modified codes developed by NATO in 1956 were found to be convenient to French and Spanish speakers in addition to the English speakers. Spellings of a few code words were changed to facilitate their use. Hence, the codes developed by NATO got universal acceptance. It is still the most widely used code word in everyday civilian and military life. The codes are also used in written communication by the military.

Currently, the system is officially denoted by several names –

• International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet
• International Civil Aviation Organization Phonetic Alphabet
• International Telecommunication Union Phonetic Alphabet
• North Atlantic Treaty Organization Phonetic Alphabet

Need for Phonetic Code Words

You might wonder why, in the first place, the idea to create code words for alphabets was entertained. This was needed to avoid any confusion while communicating over radio or telephone lines. The confusion and chances of blunder increased when the quality of the connection was poor or people on both ends of telephone lines had different languages or accents.

Suppose a pilot flying a plane needed to communicate that flight number DT77 needs some technical support. The flight number could be misunderstood as DP77, BP77, BT77, and TP77 and so on. If the pilot reports D as in Delta, T as in Tango… there won’t be any confusion.
To avoid any confusion or mishap in an emergency situation a standard set of spelling alphabet was necessary. The final choice of code words was done after hundreds and thousands of comprehension tests that involved people from at least 31 countries.

NATO Phonetic Alphabet Code Words

The following table lists down the code words used for each English alphabet in NATO phonetic spelling system.

NATO Phonetic Alphabet Code Words

English Alphabet	Corresponding Code Word
A	Alpha / Alfa
B	Bravo
C	Charlie
D	Delta
E	Echo
F	Foxtrot
G	Golf
H	Hotel
I	India
J	Juliet
K	Kilo
L	Lima
M	Mike
N	November
O	Oscar
P	Papa
Q	Quebec
R	Romeo
S	Sierra
T	Tango
U	Uniform
V	Victor
W	Whisky
X	X-ray
Y	Yankee
Z	Zulu

NATO Codes for Numbers

Apart from the English alphabet, there are code words for numbers 0 to 9. All the numbers, except 3, 4, 5 and 9 are pronounced in Standard English. The pronunciation of these four numbers has been changed to avoid any confusion. For example ‘nine’ can be confused with ‘nein’ – a German term for ‘no’. Hence, nine is pronounced as ‘nin-er’. Further, numbers are spelled digit by digit. Say for 77; we will spell seven-seven rather than seventy-seven.

NATO Codes for Numbers

Number	Corresponding Code
0	Zero
1	One/ Wun
2	Two/ Too
3	Tree
4	Fow-er
5	Fife
6	Six
7	Seve-en
8	Ait
9	Nin-er
1000	Tou-sand